Maybe there should be a different image on the Global Map?

Treshcore · April 2021

Hi there. This wave of my thoughts started with a simple question: "What happened to Skyrim, Morrowind and Solstheim in The Elder Scrolls Online?". You see, at the start I'd like to make a reference to this thread and that reddit article. If you make a brief look on them, you'll notice that people are making theories and discussing many map questions. Where is Bleakrock Isle in Skyrim? What happened to Winterhold? Why Skyrim goes across Morrowind border, completely ignoring the city of Blacklight? Why Solstheim can be accessed from Eastmarch literally by bridge if there was one?

If you struggle to remember how the most canon map of Tamriel looked, check this map. If you want to take a closer look on more problematic places on the eastern border of Skyrim, take a look on the official Skyrim map. Then look on this map - the map used in The Elder Scrolls Online.

As you can see, the difference is big. I suggest that there should be a complete remake of TESO global map in order to fix these problems and the ones I didn't mention. It will help to:

Make a cautious implementation of Solstheim if needed;
Create a DLC about Morrowind's western border if needed;
Define Bleakrock Isle's location not just in one game but the entire lore;
Reduce the amount of useless theories about different misunderstandings;
Strengthen TESO positions in lore fans community;

I don't want to make it something personal, but some people may remember me for the thread where I asked to explain in-game and, in some cases, fix continuity issues in TESO. Some people thought that it's useless - many people will think like that about remaking global map as well. I want to tell one thing in this case: if you don't care about lore, it doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. Even if this lore are just a few details in cartography.
I like TESO very much and I wish it to prosper not only as an online game, but as a big and important lore source for the entire series. On the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online there were more important, gameplay-wise problems, but now, after almost ten years since it's release, after fixing all the biggest problems, some things really need to be revamped to fit the lore standards set in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

Thank you for your attention!

JoDiMageio · April 2021

Just because people disagreed with you on that thread re: your demands to fix perceived issues regarding lore, doesn't mean they don't care about the lore. On the contrary, I would argue that some issues brought up by individuals who disagreed were just as passionate about the lore themselves, they just were not of the same opinion as you. Diversity in thought is not a bad thing.

That being said, in this case I kind of agree with you, the map is a little wonky. I just always put it down (as my own head canon) to different cartographers drawing maps differently. It would indeed be possible for maps drawn in 2E to be different from maps drawn in 4E - the continent would have changed somewhat over time.

Happens irl, too. Maps from the 18th Century look different from maps from the 21st century. Heck, even the world map most of us know is incorrect and disproportionate.

brassmaster12 · April 2021

Oh I definitely agree. The map just looks a bit off to me (which is because it is) Some "zones" on the global map are smaller than what they should be. A rework is in order if they do want to visit those locations eventually. I don't know if they will visit ever location of Tamriel. I hope they do because this map how it is with locations not being accessed would look out of place.

Zone Maps are fine mostly (maybe slight tweaking on some to correlate to a new global map) But the global map needs to be adjusted. Maybe even resized a bit too, make the landmass a bit larger in scale.

Treshcore · May 2021

@JoDiMageio, I know that demanding was a bit rough, I'm sorry for that.
The main reason for this rudeness was my understanding that nor most of the players, neither Bethesda themselves are NOT interested in explaining these messy things. Even I created my headcanon which explains all the broken timeline as parts of story of one simple adventurer/mercenary, so I got used to it.
I still think that there should be some in-game explanations made: just a clear statement that timeline is "not right" and you should be completely free in explaining it for yourself. Maybe just a few phrases.

Now about maps... When I was writing this post, I thought that maybe there are some mistakes in map making. We see other players looking on it when they actually are looking on it, so I guess that these maps exist as part of TESO canon.
However, this is even easier to explain why global map can suddenly change. I mentioned Pocket Guide to The Empire in the OP, so why shouldn't there be many editions of one map? If Bethesda decides to make this change carefully, we're going to have the most accurate Tamriel map by now. The overall Tamriel map I linked in the OP was made in 2006, around Oblivion release. So many things were changed since these times!

Treshcore · May 2021

@brassmaster12, TESO map gave us so many details any other maps never have given. Even Bleakrock Isle - it's such a big surprise! Now it's time to make these details be less contradicting to what we've seen in other games in the series and we're going to have the best map ever.

Elsonso · May 2021

The crazy thing about all of this is that even though all three maps (ESO, Arena, Skyrim) look different, all three are canon, and Tamriel is largely the same.

Winterhold and Blacklight are right where you'd expect to find them in 2E582, were that we could go there. If ESO ever does go there, you will see.

In short, yes, they will remake the maps if they go to those places.